The present disclosure relates generally to an imaging relay lens system and a method for imaging electromagnetic radiation. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an imaging relay lens system having a compact configuration and a method for imaging electromagnetic radiation.
The term “object array” can refer to any number of devices, such as but not limited to a fiber array, VCSEL array, detector array, or other object plane, and is hereinafter referred to generally as the object array. The term “image array” can refer to any number of sources, such as but not limited to a fiber array, VCSEL array, detector array, or other image plane, and is hereinafter referred to generally as the image array.
Reference is made to FIG. 1A, which illustrates an imaging relay lens 100 made up of a pair of gradient index (GRIN) lenses 10 and 20 used to image or reimage (hereinafter referred to generally as “image”) an object array 30 to an image array 40. Reference is also made to FIG. 1B, which illustrates an imaging relay lens 200 comprising a pair of aspheric lenses 210 and 220 used to image an object array 30 to an image array 40. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,635,861, 7,015,454, and 7,446,298, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and for all purposes.
The distance between object array 30 and image array 40 in these designs can be significantly long compared to the size of the array. While such distances may be acceptable for fiber coupling connectors and other similar devices, they are typically too long for other applications, such as but not limited to the board-to-board optical communication applications, which have much shorter separations. A view of an object array 30 and image array 40 for these configurations, taken along a plane perpendicular to optical axis 50, are shown next to their respective arrays in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B.
Accordingly, there is a need to develop a new imaging relay lens system with a compact configuration.